"I'm probably the first candidate who posted his arrest record on his website before he was elected alderman," Brian Hopkins, Chicago's new 2nd Ward alderman, said with a laugh.

It was actually a column I wrote, headlined "Former 'outlaw' runs for Chicago seat," that Hopkins posted on his campaign website under the tagline "news clips."

That column ran in January 2014 and announced Hopkins' intention to run for office, but I've been writing about the 53-year-old Hopkins since he was a college student back in 1985.

Hopkins was working to pass a tax referendum for Moraine Valley Community College, where he was a student leader, and had drawn an assignment to distribute campaign literature outside polling places in Crestwood.

Chester Stranczek, the Crestwood mayor and conservative Republican, was adamantly opposed to tax increases of any sort, but especially for schools. He used a sign he owned outside the Crestwood Village Hall to urge the public to vote "No" on this particular tax referendum.

When Hopkins showed up outside a polling place in Crestwood, the literature he was distributing was confiscated by police, who placed him in handcuffs and took him to the local lockup.

And, if Hopkins is to be believed, that's the day when his political career was born.

"It changed my life," Hopkins told me last week, two days after he won a runoff election for 2nd Ward alderman. "As a result of being arrested by a tyrant, I decided to dedicate my life to political service.

A fierce critic of Mayor Rahm Emanuel fended off an opponent backed by pro-Emanuel political groups Tuesday in one of the most expensive and high-profile races among 18 City Council runoff contests.

Six other aldermen who have been strong backers of Emanuel's agenda didn't fare as well and were...

"I became convinced that it really matters who had the power and that people of good faith serve in public office because it actually impacts the lives of people. The people are entitled to expect that the people who they give the power to use it in their best interests, not to further their individual interests."

I'm not sure I buy into all of that because, as I recall, when I interviewed Hopkins three decades ago and asked him why he had become involved in the referendum campaign he told me he had been interested in a political career since he was a child.

That fascinated me and is really the reason I always remembered him, because I made a mental note to see what became of the kid.

Years passed and one day I telephoned Cook County Commissioner John Daley's office about a question regarding county spending. (Daley, the son and brother of former Chicago mayors, is considered an expert on Cook County finances.) I was told to talk to Daley's chief of staff, and when I asked who that was, the woman on the other end of the phone said, "Brian Hopkins."

Hopkins had gone from Moraine Valley Community College to the University of Illinois-Springfield and from there had made his way onto the legislative staff in the State Capitol.

In 1994, he became co-campaign manager for Dawn Clark Netsch, the Democratic candidate for governor.

Netsch endorsed an income tax hike to fund public education, which Republican Jim Edgar used to destroy her campaign. She ended up getting only 34 percent of the vote.

"The Democrats lost control of the Illinois House during that election and Mike Madigan told the news media that the Netsch campaign was to blame for bringing down the entire ticket statewide," Hopkins said. "He said everyone connected to that campaign should share the blame for that. I figured my political career was over before it had really begun."

He went to work as director of the Illinois Coalition to End Homelessness and led a campaign to pass the Illinois homeless voting rights act.

He credits Daley with saving his political career.

"He remembered me from his time as a state senator and he reached down and picked me off the political trash heap," Hopkins said.

Hopkins has been employed as Daley's right-hand man for 20 years, but took a leave of absence last year when he launched his aldermanic campaign.

Hopkins said he grew up in Chicago's McKinley Park community, near 36th Street and Winchester Avenue, but his parents eventually moved to Oak Forest, taking him with. He eventually bought his grandparents' old home in Chicago at the same Winchester Street address.

He moved 16 years ago to the Streeterville neighborhood, where he lives now, and became a leader in a local civic organization.

But he didn't leave his Moraine Valley Community College roots behind.

"Burton Odelson (a renowned election lawyer) was president of the Moraine board of trustees when I was arrested and came down to the police station to get me out and was my chief legal adviser during this campaign," Hopkins said.

A judge eventually threw those charges out, by the way, saying Hopkins was just "exercising his constitutional rights."

Hopkins said, "Kit Barbaro worked in the marketing department at the college, and when I was making random phone calls urging people to vote for me during the aldermanic campaign, I just happened to call her because she lives in the ward. She remembered me and said, 'You went to jail for the college when I was working there.' She's been working on my campaign every day.

"Holly Bartecki, Maiter was her maiden name when I knew her as the Moraine Valley student activities adviser, is now the vice president of a public relations firm (senior vice president of creative and strategic development at Jascula Terman and Associates) and has provided invaluable advice throughout the campaign."

With the city facing a massive budget and pension crisis, I asked Hopkins if he had any specific ideas for salvaging Chicago's financial situation.

"One of the first orders of business after taking my seat in the City Council will be to go over all the financial documents," Hopkins said, noting that his years as a legislative aide to a Senate appropriations committee and working with Daley on Cook County budgets have prepared him well for that task.

Hopkins said he will also attempt to change the way Chicago wards are redistricted. The new 2nd Ward that Hopkins will oversee was gerrymandered to the point that it was almost unrecognizable because Ald. Bob Fioretti had threatened to run against Rahm Emanuel for mayor.

"The mapmaking authority should be placed in the hands of an independent commission," Hopkins said. "People in my new ward had trouble getting service in the last year in large part because they didn't even know what ward they lived in any more. Did they live in their old ward, before the remap, or the new ward, and who was responsible for giving them service? They didn't know and it wasn't their fault."

Hopkins said he considers himself neither an enemy nor ally of Emanuel.

"Each vote will be made based on the issue and the best interests of my constituents," he said. "I don't think people voted me into office just to vote against the mayor and get headlines. But I certainly won't be a rubber stamp. I'm an independent thinker."

As for posting my column on his website, Hopkins said, "I thought it was best to get the information out there before my opponents did. There were five other candidates running against me before I got into the two-way runoff on Tuesday. And you know what? No one ever mentioned my arrest record, so I guess the strategy worked."

While some kids grow up wanting to be a professional baseball or football player, Hopkins always wanted to be a politician. Well, welcome to the big leagues, kid.